As appropriated by the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2019 (Pub. L. No. 116-6); Section 203(i) of the Stafford Act, as amended (Pub. L. No. 93-288) (42 U.S.C. § 5133) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. No. 117-58) (2021)., the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Grant Program provides resources to assist states, tribal governments, territories and local communities in their efforts to implement a sustained pre-disaster natural hazard mitigation program, as authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (Pub. L. No. 93-288) (42 U.S.C. § 5133) as implemented by Hazard Mitigation Assistance: Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (FP:104-008-05).

NCDPS staff will verify eligibility. Sub-applicants must be named in a FEMA-approved local mitigation plan by the application deadline (February 2024) in order to apply for mitigation projects in accordance with Title 44 CFR Part 201. Most North Carolina communities are in compliance with this already. Our planning team will work with you on any needed amendments to ensure proper action/plan alignment.

• BRIC projects must be cost-effective, technically feasible, effective, and consistent with the goals of applicable FEMA-approved State and local multi-hazard mitigation plans.
• Eligible subapplications are awarded on a nationally competitive basis except for the C&CB proposals which are ranked and funded by the $2M State allocation.
• Federal funding is available for up to 75 percent of the eligible activity cost. NCEM recommends a 70/30 split to capture the available overmatch points. (70% fed, 30% non-fed)
• Economically Disadvantaged Rural Communities (EDRC) may be eligible for up to a 90% federal cost share. NCEM recommends an 88/12 split to capture the available overmatch points. To qualify as an EDRC, the community must have a population of under 3,000 and residents having an average per capita annual income not exceeding 80% of the national per capita income, based on best available data. Also, communities with a CDC Social Vulnerability Index rating > .80 also qualify for additional points and review advantages. See a list of North Carolina counties > .80 or use the interactive map for census tracts using the 2018 SVI data. Also, projects benefitting one of NC’s  15 census tracts designated as Community Disaster Resilience Zones (CDRZ’s) will now qualify for the same benefits as an EDRC. 
• BRIC Funding will align with the administration's JUSTICE40 Initiative - to deliver at least 40 percent of the overall benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities.  Now, the Justice 40 metric is strictly measured and evidenced by EDRC, CDRZ and the new Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST). All subapplications must include maps using this tool.

The BCA is the most critical piece of the application. Of the 53 projects the State submitted in 2021, 31 of them were disqualified due to BCA methodologies that were not compliant with HMA guidance or properly supported by data in the application. In 2022, 36 were submitted, 22 were selected and 14 were flagged for BCA issues.

It is the State’s recommendation that sub-applicants retain a firm or individual who is experienced with infrastructure BCA’s as it relates to HMA guidance and the BCA Toolkit v.6.0. During the grant development process, our team will share a link to successful BCA’s from the first three years of the program and notes from FEMA pointing out the critical mistakes of the failing BCA’s.

Sub-applicants must use a FEMA-credible methodology to perform a BCA. Only project sub-applications that demonstrate cost-effectiveness through a benefit cost ratio of 1.0 or greater will be considered. The BCA must be attached to the sub-applicant's application. The FEMA-approved BCA Toolkit, which includes the Flood Modules, may be downloaded at no cost at fema.gov/benefit-cost-analysis. The BCA Helpline may be contacted by telephone at (866) 222-3580 or via e-mail at bchelpline@dhs.gov.